No-Deal Brexit Fears Forcing Up Price Of Medicine As Pharmacists Face ‘Worst Time Ever’

Kumar added that his pharmacy had started making arrangements with local GPs about alternative prescriptions that could be provided to patients in case they run out of their usual drugs.

“We’re getting a lot of panic from customers asking questions about what might happen, and that all adds to the workload. We’re doing everything we can but it’s a big issue,” he said.

Ali Jaff, who works at another small pharmacy in the town, said they’d been having problems since October: “No one knows what’s going on. It’s horrible, everything’s out of stock and it’s costing us money.”

Jaff said Naproxin – an inflammatory pain killer – was costing them £15 a packet, but the NHS was only willing to reimburse them £4 for the prescription. 

Indira Panchal, based in Bedford, said her business was following Department of Health advice not to stockpile any drugs. But she said one of the biggest issues pharmacies faced was the implementation of the EU’s Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) on February 9.

The directive requires all pharmacies to install a FMD scanner that can scan all drugs to ensure only certified medicines are stocked on shelves in an attempt to battle counterfeiting. Not only are the machines costly, staff also have to be trained in how to use them.